Small is beautiful
by Aafje98
Summary: The queen thought her plan to take over the world would turn out well, but there was one problem she didn't see coming. An AU where the Chimera Ants stay the size of ants.
1. The Queen

**I wrote this for the hxhbb on tumblr. But I haven't watched hunter x hunter in ages and never wrote any fic for it, so this was hard. I'm glad I could finish it without having to back out though. I'm pretty sure it has lots of flaws in it, but as I said, I never wrote for this fandom before.**

* * *

Something had gone wrong. How it had happened, she didn't know. The queen, she was strong and bigger than any other ant. And thus she had expected the rest of her kind to be just like that. The eggs had given them enough space, she had eaten enough food… so why didn't it work? In the beginning she had thought the eggs maybe had a thick outer layer and that that was the reason she couldn't see the soldiers residing inside. But when the first ones hatched, she knew she had been wrong.

The features were there. The wings of those feathery animals, the slimy skin of those she had captured from the water, it was all present. But their size, that didn't fit the image. They missed the amazing size the queen had. Even though she was the queen and thus should be the biggest, she had not expected to give birth to an army that couldn't even cover her claw.

 _'_ _A waste of energy'_ that thought came to her mind. How could things this small serve her?

 _"_ _So you are my army?"_ She asked, but no response ever came. It was only natural and she knew this. Her servants didn't have the intelligence to speak. She had found it a miracle she could do this. But her soldiers were obedient and that was all that mattered. She would send them out to the world, she needed more food. She needed to grow stronger and give birth to a king. One that would be strong and big. One who could rule the world.

…

She might've called them small, but the soldiers were anything but weak. The strength the queen had gathered to give birth to her servants had not been in vain. Their power had not been converted into size, but they were overflowing with strength. They had left their home in the cave and traveled land inwards. Sceneries they did not know of. Creatures they had never seen before. They had no idea what everything was called, but that was no of importance. They had only one task after all and that was to gather food. The world didn't matter, food did. Meat, flesh, anything that moved would be the perfect prey. And that was when they spotted them.

In size they were huge, they're bodies a million time bigger than one soldier. The ants hadn't seen the species like it before. They couldn't know the creatures they had spotted were only children, walking through the forest, no idea what danger was waiting for them. Hand in hand, brother and sister they walked. The brother was supposed to protect his little sister until the end. The little girl had been scared of the dark forest once. But with her brother around, she was no longer afraid. He would safe her, no matter what happened.

 _The ants moved closer_

The girl laughed softly, the boy smiled.

 _The first one crawled up the boy's leg_

He winced for a moment, feeling a sharp pain in his leg

 _More followed, covering the girl as well_

The girl cried her brother's name, but there was no one to hear it. The two children vanished in a heap of black ants, leaving only a trace of blood and a shoe behind.

 **…**

When he came out of the egg, the queen started to feel disappointed yet again by his appearance. Wings came from his back, his skin was green. But there was one thing she liked about him. He spoke. She bent over, looking at the small grunt in front of her.

"Fend me more of those creatures." She spoke to him and the servant bowed. Taking a small group with him, he flew out of the cave. A portion of death none saw coming.

And that certain death knew exactly where to go. If it was instinct the ant didn't know, but something told him to go to that village. Perhaps it was the nearest he could find, but it could also be calling to him. There creatures down there were working hard on their fields, some were inside their houses to prepare for dinner.

They were just a flock of hungry insects in their eyes. Which they were, in some way. The leader struck down and the first villager fell down. They couldn't kill their prey, it had been included in the order. Given the ability to fly, the only option to bring the creatures back to the queen was to pick them up and take them. And so they tried exactly that. First there was one who grabbed a man by his hair and tried pulling him of the ground. Too difficult, the man's feet only left the ground for a few seconds before hitting the ground again with a low thud. The victim scurried away, crawling through the dirt as he tried to find himself a place safe from the surrounding danger. But when he turned to his home, its entrance was blocked by a swarm of black. There was no escape. Villagers were smothered, one by one, by the gusts of ants walking over their faces. Maybe a few escaped, the ants couldn't keep track of everything. They had a bigger problem on their minds. With many unconscious victims, how would they bring them back to their nest?

 **…**

Those who would spot them, would see a fairly strange sight. A group of bodies carried not more than a few centimeters above the ground. If looked closer, you could see the ants underneath them. At least ten were needed for every body. Flying wasn't possible, not within the woods. They had to save their strength for now. A short flight to the nest wouldn't be a problem, but in their perspective, the nest was at the other side of the world.

That day, the sky was filled with what seemed to be flying bodies. Above them a cloud of dark smoke, an illusion no one could understand.


	2. The Royal Guards

They wished for names. Names, a thing humans had created, a thing the queen did not think highly of. But at the same time it was useful for her. When she could already barely see her servants, calling them out was easier than pointing at a small spot on the ground. And thus she allowed them to do as they wished. Names were exchanged, but she had names to give herself. In the backroom, there were three eggs waiting to hatch. Her royal guards, made to serve the king she had yet to give birth to. Her claw traced around the shell of every egg. For once, she hoped it would be fine. No failure, only pure power in a body equal to that force.

…

Things started to change around. Ants would leave the nest and no longer return. Others came back after almost being killed. It was the humans. With them came a power no one had seen before. Not until their own friend returned stronger than before. A human attack had awakened something deep inside of him and now he could try to do whatever he wanted. Destruction. That was what the ant wished. But not every human gave the power of destruction in return. It was something special and thus the ant saw himself as the best around. Perhaps he could be the new king. An idea that played around in his head, but at the same time could never become real. His name was Rammot, the first one to encounter the humans with special powers and return alive.

After Rammot, the others followed. The presence of power awakened this inside every ant who was capable. The nest was illuminated by a special light, one that'd dim soon after.

The ants continued polishing their skills in capturing humans. Their skills were enough to capture and kill the special ones. They no longer required their prey alive for the queen to eat. With their growth they had not only gained power, but also knowledge. By preparing the meat, the food stayed edible for a longer time. The lower parts of the nest were filled with corpses. They could be dealt with by the lower servants. Those who had an important function thought they were too important to handle the food. Only a few tried to steal the food their queen needed. No one dared stop them. If less food came in than usual it would be noticed. So they did it in secret, killing an extra human that would not be noticed.

The special humans had started to spread though the country and they could be captured. The ants had their poison, as single sting enough to keep a normal human out of business for a month. They didn't need that long to live anyway, their death would be no more than three days away. The same was supposed to happen to their latest catch. The best sample they had yet found of the special humans. His body was intact and his powers had been observed well enough. But he had been lost between the many corpses. The assumption _'already eaten'_ was easily made when could not be found. They did not notice the living human between the skulls of earlier served flesh. His breathing was soft and lost between the soft breeze that'd flow through the cave like nest. The poison the ants had managed to inject into his body wasn't working. An antidote was a thing they did not know of, but to their disadvantage, the human did.

Rammot was there as he waited for more information about the missing human. But the butcher knew of nothing. He just prepared the meat after all. And it had become clear that he did not see the power that Rammot had gained. His ego grew with every passing second. He was powerful, that he knew. Perhaps enough to be king. He, who was smaller than the queen he served. He could be king if he were this powerful. Humans were to bow down for him, all were to be killed by his hand and he would stay to rule the world. King Rammot the great. It sounded amazing in his head, as ironic as 'the great' would be in his situation. Rammot could dream, only dream. Because all of his fantasies were shattered immediately.

The human didn't see it. It couldn't be seen. But it could be felt, the pressure it brought in the room. And it was a single ant who carried that force. Rammot knew to give up on, he wasn't the one to be king. It would be the one that was yet to be born that was meant for that place.

The queen had been the one to name her royal guards. Where she had hoped they weren't as small as the others, she was wrong. The first one that hatched, she had not even seen it happen. The egg broke and a powerful force had found its way into the nest.

Neferpitou was their name. In a single look they spotted the living human under a pile of bones. They didn't even try to find it. They had no idea the human was down there. It had been a feeling, combined with the stench the human carried with him. But Neferpitou was bored. Bored that their strength was this overwhelming. With their king not born yet, they had no one to fight against. At least it was not possible to fight other guards. They needed something fun and that they found. A presence had entered a nearby forest. It was a power, one that felt similar to their own. There was no way they would let the opportunity slip past.

…

In the woods were three humans. Hunters they called themselves. A man and two children. Though they did not appear to be powerful, they held some of the highest ranks in their society. And they had a simple mission: to hunt down ants. The slaughter that had happened had not gone unnoticed. Villages were abandoned, people went missing only to be found again in the form of a trail of blood and hair stuck against the branch of a tree. That and the more frequent sighting of the special chimera ants was enough to make the humans wary. The giants claw that was found a bit later made them panic. The ants seemed to have evolved, to have grown to an size as big, or even bigger then, a human.

The older man, a hunter named Kite, noticed the threat that was staring at them from afar. He didn't know what it was or who was looking at him, but it was trouble. He had to get away or at least-

"Get away from me!" He yelled at the two boys behind him. His face showed fear, a reaction the boys had not seen on him in the time they had been traveling with him.

"Get away!" He yelled again, shooing the boys away with his arm. They took a few steps back before they saw disaster strike with their own eyes.

To say they actually saw it would be an exaggeration. They saw nothing until blood spurted from a hole in Kite's arm. A small puncture wound that went all the way through his flesh. It was then that they felt it too. That menacing aura, one that wanted to see nothing but blood. Fresh and flowing blood. And blood had started to flow.

One of the boys wouldn't listen to the screams of his companion. He was filled with rage, rage towards a creature his eyes couldn't see. But that didn't matter. He had an idea of what it was that came to attack them. The group had dealt with them before. The ants. The forest had been filled with them, all had they tried to take the fresh human meat and serve to their queen or get a taste of it themselves.

Kite knew it was hopeless to try and reason with the younger boy. The group had only gotten together a few days ago, but they were mostly adjusted to all the abilities they had in the field. Their true powers, however, had never been shown for real. Kite held powers could be different in any battle and the two children had only shown to tip of their powers. They were important, of a kind that the world would need. And thus Kite couldn't have them with him. Not now, not in this situation.

 _-smack-_

The boy fell down, hit by his own friend. In a flash the unconscious body disappeared, the two boys had fled from the battle. Kite sighed in relief. At least they were safe. But the biggest problem was still around. An enemy his eyes could barely follow, and the blood that streamed down his injured arm. But he could at least summon his weapon as he watched the small black spot on the ground pick up speed once again. But his enemy was fast, too fast. By the time his weapon was solid in his hands, the black spot had moved out of his vision. He couldn't keep track of it, except for that bloodlust that he couldn't seem to lose. He knew he was done for, but if he were to die, then he could at least make sure the children could get out of the forest. If they were lucky, they could even make it out of the country before the ant would follow them. His grip around the staff in his hands tightened. He had the ant's attention, that he knew.

 **…**

Kite's struggle had been brave, but futile. No matter what he tried, the ant couldn't be crushed, nor was he able to keep the ant away. Having never seen his enemy for real, Kite died in the battle. In one movement, his head flew away from the rest of his body. In the destroyed forest stood a severed head with an ant standing between his white hair.

"Perhaps I am a little strong." Neferpitou remarked as they watched the destruction they had caused.

 **…**

Pitou was the first one to be born of all the royal guards. There was a king to be born and one guard could not be enough. Two others came soon after. Neferpitou watched the forest below. There were humans down there, powerful humans. Perhaps they were a good match, perhaps they were threat. A combination of the two didn't seem unlikely either. A voice came from behind, footsteps nearing had gone unnoticed. The words spoken were in correspondence with Pitou's thoughts and that irritated them, even if they showed no emotion.

"Who are you?" Asked Neferpitou, though the answer seemed clear already.

"One of the royal guards, Shaiapouf."

Shaia was the second to be born. Only later did Menthuthuyoupi follow. With that the royal guard was completed. All three looking different, all three gifted with a different ability. The queen had done well giving birth to them. Even if she could barely see the three when they walked around. Not only did they spend a lot of time outside the nest or were they taking care of their own business. They were just as small as the others and that made them disappear in the crowd. With her claws, the queen caressed the child in her belly. There would be a king, the power was already overflowing. Her king, the king for everyone. And she would be the one to name him, to see how he started a new nest. His guards would be there to protect him. A true king.


	3. The King

"You can't… it's too early!" The queen could feel her child move. He moved too much and that was making her worry. The child was restless, he wanted to be born. He needed to show the world how powerful he was. And the queen knew he had grown well. But he wasn't ready to show his power to the world yet. It was too soon and her body wasn't prepared yet.

But the king didn't think about what it was his mother wanted. He was more important, he had to get out of the fleshy prison that held him. A small rupture appeared in the queen's skin. Screams filled the tunnels of the nest. She was in pain and there was nothing she could do. He had to get out. The small rupture grew and soon her belly was torn open by a little cut. The fluid that had been inside her, protecting the child, dripped down from the side. The queen was hurting, but relieved. If she could just… just see her baby. Her greatest creation, the best child she had given birth to. She wanted to see him, but she couldn't. Just like all others, her king was small. And once more the queen knew she had failed. The best she could give still wasn't enough to get him to grow.

Her wound wasn't big or anything life threatening, but the fact that she was weak didn't help. She needed her rest. After that she was sure she could be fine. To her servants however the injury seemed anything but light. They saw their queen die slowly, her life leaving her with every passing second. At was then that panic formed under the soldiers. The presence of the king went unnoticed at first. Only when one of the ants tried to reach for the queen, did heads start to roll. First that of a servant, then the wound on the queen's body was no longer a small cut. Her stomach was ripped open and not a single ant was allowed to help her as she was choking in her own blood.

The king was hungry and he was bored. Killing his own species didn't bother him nor did it cure his boredom. He made a simple guy clean the blood of his tail after having killed another one. And yet he was still torn on the inside.

Three voices dragged him out of his state of madness. Three ants, all giving off a sense of power. Not as much as his, but it was there. And he knew that if he had to fight them, he could have a good spar. What did it matter to him tough? They were his allies and even if they didn't exist, the king was sure he would be fine. He wouldn't be the type to worry. No… he just wanted to eat.

 **…**

The original nest had not been to his liking. It held no class. The structure existed of nothing but tunnels dug through a large hill. It was dirty. And with that it was perfect for those weak, stupid soldiers, but for a king… he hated it.

He was glad two of his guards carried wings on their back. As small black dots they went to look for food. And they found that, but none was what the king was looking for. He remembered the taste of the well-known special prey he had been fed when in the queen body. It had been no lie when he had been told that that prey was rare. There wasn't a single one in the area and it was driving the king crazy.

If he couldn't get his food, then he could at least get a great place to live at. He travelled some more, stopping to leave a slaughter at some places. Then a wall blocked their path. The king ordered his ride to fly higher and show what was behind the wall. Bright, green grass greeted him. Behind that an even bigger wall. Perhaps it was more like a house? This place was a true castle, better than a smelling cave.

In the garden a couple of guards were walking around the place to keep an eye out for any intruders. As beautiful as the high grass of the garden was, it made it impossible for the men to see their enemy. The king and his company had returned to walk on the ground. Their movement was quickly paced. They didn't care for the lowlife prey that was standing around. They didn't until one of them walked through the grass without care. His foot broke blades of grass and, more importantly, came down at a crushing pace towards the body of the king. Neferpitou had run towards him, wishing to kill the attacker before he could reach the king. But it wasn't needed. Before the sole touched ground, the foot had already landed a meter from where it had been in the first place. Screaming followed, the sound of gunshots filled the garden. Soon it was silent again and what had been green before was now dyed in dark red.

The king licked his lips. These creatures were weak. And he could feel what was waiting for him inside. A rare prey, multiple of them.

…

While the king was finding himself a new home, the left behind ants had their queen to take care of. She was bleeding and if there was nothing done, she would die. The ants knew this just like they knew that their queen would never give birth again after this. If she were to survive in the first place. As much as it hurt to admit it, they needed help. Their own bodies were too small to heal her. The only thing they could was to stop the bleeding a little.

It was Colt who took the mission of finding humans upon himself. With a small piece of white cloth, connected to a stick he flew away. The lands were abandoned, no humans were around for a long time. They had all been killed. But that was until he found 'them'. A group of humans who seemed to making their way to the nest. Filled with hope, Colt tried to reach them. He yelled at them, swung his flag with the wish to grab their attention. But he couldn't get them to see him. He was nothing but a dot at the horizon, invisible against the many trees and rocks. The humans walked on and Colt's wish shattered along with every single one the ants had had. Their queen was meant to die and without realizing it, so were the humans now. Their only way of getting information, the only way to know that their worst enemy had already been born, was now gone. It all left the world with the whisper of a name that wasn't meant to be forgotten. A single name.

 _Meruem_

 **…**

One piece of information Colt could've given them was that some of the squad leaders had set out to be their own king. An act of pride. They knew they weren't like the king, but it couldn't stop them. Staying with the queen had given them nothing. Hell, the queen was dead anyways. Every attempt to talk to humans had failed and to be honest none of the leaders felt like joining the side of what had been prey all the time. They were better on their own or accompanied by only a few.

This would be the age of kings and queens. They all felt it.

All except the humans.

They still walked around NGL as the ants started their big migration. NGL was becoming empty. NGL was no longer the place to be.

It was the Republic of East Gorteau where a king sat on his throne.

A hungry king

A bored king


	4. The Human

He had tried to read every book there was. And that on its own was already a inhumane task. Book by book, flipping the pages and having to read every word written down. For Meruem it was just a way to pass time. Walking across the pages to read their information while Shaiapouf watched him. Where Pitou and Youpi were hiding, Meruem didn't care for. They all went their own ways. He knew that Pitou was spending their time playing with their prey, the ones they'd make dolls of. He knew they had tried to turn her first kill into a doll, but that with their size it had been impossible to do. As powerful as they were, their size made it impossible to bring fake life to creatures a thousand times bigger. It had been futile, Pitou was left with creating small dolls and controlling the living. The head of their first kill had been left behind in the forest. There humans found it, Meruem was sure of that.

He walked away from the last book that lay in his room. He wished to play a game, the human games he had learned about. He knew he was the best at every ability that could be found. He carried the title of king after all. The only thing that was left was to gain the title of champion in every game as well. He could summon those who already held on to such a title. He would play a game and he would win for sure.

He sat down on top of a throne, looking over the board he had placed in front of him. Shaiapouf stood next to him, hadn't moved in ages. The floor was covered in blood. Every champion, they had all be eliminated. How had they dared to treat him as if he were nothing. Ignored him, dared to say they weren't going to fight him. How had they had the courage to even speak such words?

 _"_ _Where is my opponent?"_

 _He had been sitting in front of them all the time._

 _-snap-_

 _"_ _I can't fight an ant? Is this a joke?"_

 _-snap-_

 _"_ _I'm not-"_

 _-snap-_

 _-snap-_

 _-snap-_

The floor was red. Meruem was angered. They hadn't fought him, didn't try to. But what did it matter. If they were dead, then that meant he had won the match. No human would have left his palace alive anyways. Then why did it leave him with such an empty feeling?

One game left. His tail swayed restlessly. He had to go and kill someone yet again. It was boring. Those humans weren't special, they weren't tasty. Worse, they killed his appetite.

Footsteps, sounding softly through the hallways. Sniffling. A stick that ticked against the stone floor.

"T-this invitation is a great ho-honor…" The girl said as she kneeled down before the king's throne.

"We're playing Gung-Gi. You know how to play, right?" He asked her, ignoring the stuttering between her words.

"Y-Yes. But excuse me, your voice seems different than the one of our great leader. It's much softer as if you were smaller entity. Ah, but that doesn't mean anything, I'm sorry." So she had noticed.

"That man is no longer here. I have taken over. So be silent and let us start playing this game."

"Yes! I apologize for my rudeness." The girl lowered her head once more before she focused on the board.

"Can you see?" The king asked as he showed Shaiapouf to move over to the pieces on the board. The king would not move the stones himself, he needed to see what was going on. Shaiapouf could fly so moving the stones would be no problem to him.

"I can't so please say your moves out loud." She replied.

Meruem only nodded.

"4-4-1 Hyo."

And so the first stone was placed.

 **…**

Defeat. Defeat after defeat, it never ended. No matter what he did, he couldn't win. He wanted to blame Shaiapouf for placing the stones in the wrong place, but he knew that wasn't what was going on. The girl was strong. The only person that dared to fight him, was a formidable opponent. He wouldn't stop fighting her. Shaiapouf could fly across the board as much as he wanted. Meruem would keep on playing until he had his victory. After that… would he dispose of the girl? Could he do that after all these matches? She had been the first, the only one who had wanted to fight him. But that was also because she couldn't see him. She believed him to be human.

"You place moves so softly, it's almost as if the stones are floating before you place the down." The girl said. She should know.

At the same time she had made up her own mind when it came to playing games. She was a professional, one with her mind made up before the game had even started. She would not take a loss easy. She had told him that if she were to lose, she'd kill herself. It did make things easier on Meruem. He wouldn't have to kill her. The girl was meant to die either way.

…

How long had they been battling? Days could pass without Meruem noticing. He was used to staying awake. The girl had admitted she could play Gung-Gi for three days straight. The plans that the king had made before his game had started, seemed to disappear from his mind.

Seemed.

They were still there, buried deep inside and waiting outside of his palace. Thousands of humans, hypnotized and waiting. They would be his army. There had been no sign of resistance yet. No humans that had come to kill him. He thought they had come to understand that they should fear him. Only that wasn't the truth. They just didn't know. The disappearances had continued, the humans were well aware of that. But East Gorteau had always been a peculiar country where no information ever left. The king and his guards were still shrouded in mystery and so was the human girl that accompanied them.

On a sunny day Meruem finally left his room. The girl followed him as she commented how soft the king's footsteps were.

"As if they aren't there." She had said. He had told her that the sound of her walking stick had killed them. She had laughed that time.

Meruem jumped on the window sill and looked down at the land that would soon belong to no one but him.

"Is it beautiful?" The girl asked him.

"It is, Komugi." He answered. "The whole country, the whole world, it looks beautiful in my hands."

* * *

 **I started this as a crack fic before I realized that the ants would be a lot stronger when the size of an ant.**

 **Here's the amazing art that was made for the fic:** **lapandas . tumblr post /145778599132 / small-is-beautiful-by-blame-the-anime-for-hxhbb**


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